Healthy Eating: Time for a Little Fun Food!

A few weeks ago I attended a conference on kids and healthy weight (actually, it was titled kids and obesity, but i prefer to think positively, turning my attention to the goal of healthy weights instead of focusing on the negative).

A speaker there, Marcia Herrin, RD, author of A Parent’s Guide to Childhood Eating Disorders and a local colleague, gave an excellent presentation that mirrored Green Mountain’s approach to helping people move towards healthy weights. The best part of her eating recommendations, I thought, was her advice to eat ‘fun food’ at every lunch and dinner.

Fun food is just what you think it is — those sweets, chips, beverages (alcoholic or not) that are often considered off-base when it comes to healthy weights. But Marcia believes like we do — and has seen like we have — that letting ourselves eat these foods regularly (that is, if we like them — and who doesn’t??) teaches us to eat them in moderation, thereby doing away with the overeating and binge eating that comes out of guilt or feelings of failure. This hold true even for people with diabetes, who often think they cannot eat any sugar.

Like most people, some of my favorite foods include potato chips, chocolate, ice cream…the usual. But I’ve recently discovered a couple of items that some would call healthy fun foods (i call all fun foods healthy because if eaten in moderation, they help us eat more healthfully). Anyway, drum roll, please….

Edy’s Fruit Bars — Oh, so yummy! I like the coconut ones, and the grape ones. Probably would like the other flavors, too, but haven’t tried them yet. Give me time!

Larabars – Okay, these are soooo healthy. Nothing but dried fruit and nuts. But very tasty! I’m putting a few in my purse for a trip i’m taking next week, when there’s nothing on the plane except things i’m not really interested in eating. Great to take along on a hike or other outing, too.

About the Author

Marsha Hudnall, MS, RDN, CD

If you’re looking for an embodiment of dedication disguised as obsession, look no further. Marsha is a registered dietitian who has spent the last four decades working to help women give up dieting rules and understand how to truly take care of themselves. Her mission in life is to help women learn to enjoy eating and living well, without worries about their weight. She encourages women to embrace their love of food, which you might call being a foodie. If so, it’s appropriate because being a foodie means you pay attention when you eat. That’s a recipe made in heaven for eating well. Marsha is the President and Co-Owner of Green Mountain at Fox Run.